Problems in Pleasant Valley

Published February 07. 2019 01:00PM

Dear Editor,

The Pleasant Valley School Board has made front-page news several times recently, only not in a good way to its long-suffering taxpayers. It seems the school board is bound and determined to make a case for that proposed 3.9 percent property tax increase — ludicrous as those reasons might be.

We just learned the school board has contracted with an outside firm (at what cost?) to study the possible need for a new high school. But we need a new high school about as much as we needed that $1 million fake grass football field a few years ago. The idea of a new high school for a declining student population is ludicrous.

We’ve also learned the school board is in the process of hiring six or so $100,000 a year executive-types to fill newly created administrative positions. But we don’t need to spend upward of $1 million a year on six new school district employees who will never step into a classroom, much less actually teach.

Although most of us haven’t read the Monroe County grand jury report criticizing the school district’s policies and practices, we can be pretty well assured the report did not suggest the school district soak taxpayers by making the school district top-heavy with newly minted administrators.

Instead of eliminating upper and middle management positions and flattening the organization in the process, the school board and superintendent are taking measures to increase the levels of midmanagement throughout the organization’s matrix.

This is utter nonsense and contrary to accepted methods of modern organizational planning. For the school board to suggest it’s doing this on the recommendation of the grand jury is, again, ludicrous.

Those of us who are paying the bills in this school district had better be paying close attention as well. We have been forewarned.

Comments

Ernie,
Do people attend meetings? Here in Northampton S.D. the people allow the district to do whatever they wish. The Plancon Moratorium threatens loss of state funds on a building project, but who cares, the people allow the construction to proceed. We the people of these once united states, get what we deserve. We have been forewarned... again